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Published on: 1/28/2002
Last Visited: 2/26/2002
Right now school board processes in DeKalb County are heavily paper-dependent, according to Dr. Edward Bouie, executive director of DeKalb's management information systems.
At each month's board meetings, all seven board members and the superintendent are handed packets containing the financial report for the month, the human resources report, the student discipline report, and the minutes from the previous month's board meetings.
"The packet is without a doubt 200 to 300 pieces of paper," Bouie said.
Ultimately, board members will be using the Apple platform's "eAgenda" web tool to read reports and recommendations, correspond with each other, check policies, consult the association's school law guide, and get their entire board meeting packets online.But Bouie says it will be this fall before they become proficient enough with the system to do away with paper entirely.
The eAgenda tool will give school board members a specially designed web site containing all the information they need to make informed decisions and disseminate information to stakeholders.
Having computers equipped with the eAgenda program present at school board meetings will give board members the ability to call up the information they need instantaneously.
All district and state rules and regulations will be maintained on the system and easily can be accessed without having the secretary go out and find a copy.And if a board member is not present at the meeting, he or she can be reached via the internet.
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"eAgenda will take all of that information, put it in an electronic format, and post it on a web site so [it] will be accessible on the web," said Bouie."The other aspect is that eAgenda will have a database of archives, so board members can go back and pull up old information."
The ability to compare old and new information should improve data-driven decision making by board members, Bouie said.He added that the searchable archives will be available to parents and community members as well.
"There will be a link [to eAgenda] from the board section of the web site," he said."This also satisfies the law that says an agenda must be posted 24 hours before a board meeting."
DeKalb County school board members are now undergoing in-depth training on the operation of their new laptops, basic web skills, and the eAgenda software.Most of the training is being conducted by representatives from Apple Computer.
"We have also issued our school board members [personal digital assistants], and I've done the Palm training," Bouie added.
The board approved $45,000 for the purchase of the iBooks and the training, but this does not include the cost of developing the web site itself.
That will cost in the neighborhood of $80,000, said Bouie, and funds have not yet been appropriated.Where that money will come from will be determined after the training concludes in February.
Bouie said the software should feature an online archive for board member and stakeholder access as early as this spring, but the first paper-free board meeting is not scheduled to take place until September.
Links:
DeKalb County School Boardhttp://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/board
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